newbie help, new system- looking at kt7

[ace859]

Hi, I need some help from you guys. I'm currently running a ppro system and need to upgrade... I've been looking at the kt7 and athlon 700 combinations everyone talks so well about.

My question is, is this a good combination? Can I do better now for around that price? If I do decide to go that route and overclock, where can I find a decent guide to overclocking that specific setup? Ive searched around for a while and can only find tips here and there- is there no centralized source? If not, could someone possibly walk me through it? I really appreciate the help, and would like you guys to let me know whether or not Im making the right decision for a practical, fast chip/mobo combo under $200.

thanks a lot

 

[Submit]

For prices you can check Anandtech's price guides. For overclocking check outAmd overclockingAbit does make nice board, have one myself.

Adrian

 

[Nitzylpick]

Dollars to donuts go with an Duron setup. Great price/performance and hella overclockable. I picked up my MSI K7T Pro2-A for $117 shipped at microbarn and an OEM Duron 700 with a GlobalWin FOP32-1 heatsink from astak for about $80 shipped. I am currently running at 927MHz or 227 MHz above stock. Not bad eh? Unlocking the multiplier is pretty easy. A pencil and a magnifier and you're done! Durons also perform within ~10% of a comparably clocked athlon. And it appears that they may benefit greatly from DDR, even more so than an athlon.

 

[ace859]

Are there any significant advantages of the abit over the MSI pro2 to justify the price difference? Granted its just $20, but Im trying to stick to a budget.. Also, is the MSI as easy to adjust for overclocking as the ABIT? I know some of the other boards I looked at required hardware modifications such as saudering, etc, to be effective. I realize the abit doesn't(at least to the 1 gigahertz point) and if the MSI doesnt either, I think I would go with it instead.

Are there any reasons I shouldnt?

Thanks again for all your help guys

 

[Nitzylpick]

Ack! That's a can o' worm you just opened up son! The abit is totally jumperless. The MSI has a jumper you would have to select for 100-133 and 133+ on the FSB. Other than that, there is a big arguement as to stability and which is better. For me it came down to $$. That's why I went with the MSI. It does have its quirks such as giving a blank screen and not posting to the BIOS if it didn't like my settings. So I would have to clear the CMOS data everytime I hit a bad combo. I didn't mind though. Aside from the one jumper, you can change the multiplier, voltage, memory settings, FSB speed etc. just like the abit in BIOS. Hope this helped.

Edit: some spelling (it's is not possessive)

 

[ace859]

Thanks again for the help. Sounds like Im going to stick with the MSI just for the cost, and some tests show it is slightly more stable.

Im having some trouble getting any really good deals. I would like to order the motherboard, cpu, case, and fan off of the same place to save on shipping. Is there any price search I can use that allows me to specify my whole system?

So far the best deal I found is at icompz, 700 Duron, MSI Pro2, winfop32, thermal paste, and a full tower case for $301 shipped.

Microbarn has the board and cpu combo w/o fan or case for $182 shipped. Would I be better off buying from a place like that and getting the case and cpu fan seperate?

Thanks again for all the help

 

[Jagators]

ace859,

If I were you I would do some checking around before I would make the purchase. Let me say here that I have no experience with the MSI MB's. I've read several post here that some people have had troubles with the multiplier on these MB. Having said that, I ended up buying the Abit KT7 MB. I have 2 Durons 600@1000, 100x10 at 1.85v and very stable. Just thought I would mentioned that.

 

[ace859]

Thanks everyone for the help. Can anyone else throw in a reccomedation for which motherboard and their reasons? Im having a hard time deciding here. And I would also like to ask if anyone has any idea where I can get the best prices. Its too hard to search via pricewatch or similar when trying to find a single source for a set of hardware..